90 England's horses, 



a little over £1,500, to the "encouragement of agricultural 

 societies, and the locating of stallions about the country," would, 

 his Lordship thinks, be a decided step in the right direction — 

 and Captain Slack is with him. A number of these plates are 

 won by horses sent specially from England, a fact which at 

 once destroys the very object for which these prizes were insti- 

 tuted — to encourage the breed of horses in Ireland. Lord 

 Spencer considers that these Queen's Plates " cannot be de- 

 fended," and "do not contribute at all to the amusements of 

 the people." 



That the good to be done by agricultural shows, and an in- 

 crease in the prize-money offered, is becoming gradually recog- 

 nized, we learn from Mr. Thomas Parrington, Secretary to the 

 Yorkshire Agricultural Society. This year the Society offers 

 prizes of ^50, £20, and £10 for the best thoroughbred hunting 

 stallions, whereas last year £30 was the highest prize. That 

 there are not as many good horses bred in Yorkshire as formerly 

 Mr. Parrington admits, but he is confident that the quality of 

 what there is is as good as ever, if not better : — * 



" I think the quality is wonderfully good. I was out with the Holderness 

 hounds mj'self not a fortnif,'lit ago, and I counted two hundred well-mounted 

 horsemen in the field, and I did not count them all. I asked the question 

 what was an ordinary field thirty years ago, and they told me from twenty to 

 thirty." 



The present system of warranties and of dealers' licenses is a 

 crying evil in the eyes of all, professional and amateur alike. 

 Everj'^ one has to pay the license now. " What do you mean 

 by every one ? " asks the Marquis of Lansdowne of Mr. 

 Phillips :— 



" If you were to buy a horse in the country and sell it again, either at a 

 profit or at a loss, in a week, you would be liable to the horse-dealer's license. 



"Have people been called upon to pay the horse-dealer's license under 

 those circumstances within your knowledge ? — Yes. There was a case of a 

 pig-jobber who was summoned, and I believe was convicted. He went on to 

 the Wolds to buy some pigs, and he bought a pony ; he brought it home and 

 sold it at ten shillings profit, and he was fined £12, and had to pay the horse- 

 dealer's license." 



Mr. Lumley Hodgson, of Easingwold, in the North Biding, 

 described by one of the witnesses as "one of the highest 



* How superficial is this. The author knows the Holderness country and 

 also knows that there are numbers of horse-deaUng farmers attending, the 

 " meets " on promising horses, bought far and near ! ! ! 



